Pick-up tools of the prior art have had the moveable jaw connected to a trigger by a stiff rod whereby it is difficult to carefully press the trigger just enough to avoid injury to an animal which it is desired to pick up. This can be important in picking up a kitten or many fast moving animals. The very speed of the amimal requires fast action on the part of the operator and it is easy for the operator to become excessively excited and squeeze the trigger sufficiently enough to injure the animal. This problem is also involved in the catching of snakes. In some areas of the country poisonous snakes can be sold if caught alive so that their venom can be extracted and used.
To cushion the jaws by placing resilient material such as foam rubber or the like on the opposite surfaces of the jaws has its disadvantages. Such materials are weak by nature and tend to break off. Anything added to the jaws can tend to become unglued, particularly when the tool is used out in the rain and in damp grasses.
My solution for this problem involves a flexible cable or connection member between the trigger and the moveable jaw and which has a slacking portion which can be caused to assume a slack condition whenever the trigger is released, since a spring extends across a slacking portion drawing its ends towards each other. When the operator grips an animal he can easily sense through his fingers when the spring is being extended and at that moment there is a sufficient pressure for holding a kitten, snake or other animal. The operator, sensing this, can cease to exert further pressure more than necessary to maintain the extension of the spring without allowing the spring to become overcome to an extent such as would straighten out the slacking portion of the cable. This construction has advantage because it is also possible when heavy objects are being gripped, or whenever desired, to use maximum hand pressure, drawing the cable completely taut, and exerting maximum pressure at the jaws.
With this construction the operator can either be very gentle with an animal or he can be very forceful when gentleness is not needed.
The prior art contains jaws which overlap but to my knowledge does not contain a fixed jaw with a notch in its forward end for receiving the forward end of the moveable jaw. This construction is my new concept for a superior gripping action in which the upper jaw extends between forwardly extending portions of the lower jaws and the gripping effect is complete.
To my knowledge jaws of the prior art for these purposes have had only small forward portions which are adapted to touch each other.
It is another object of this invention to provide jaws having along the majority of their lengths substantially parallel oppositely disposed surfaces, which either touch or almost touch, whereby a great many objects can be gripped which are of a relatively small or thin nature and yet a complete "closure" around an object is assured because the overlapping forward ends of the jaws tend to trap a smaller object or snake, or a smaller animal in an area bounded by the opposed surfaces of the jaws.
A particular object is to provide the tool with a trigger which is pivoted from an axis disposed substantially to one side of the shank so that there is an adequate distance between such an axis and the point at which the rearward end of flexible connecting cable is secured to the trigger, whereby a great amount of trigger motion is possible without the trigger striking a hand grip extending generally parallel to it.